La Cordillera Central is Puerto Rico’s central mountain range, one of the places where the red-flowered poinciana tree grows.

El coquí is a tiny tree frog named after the loud sound that it makes; it is also a symbol of Puerto Rico.

This picture is posted under the creative common rights. For link go here.

Celebrations

La Fiesta de Santiago – The Festival of St. James is celebrated in the town of Loíza with traditional music, such as bomba and the plena.

El Festival Casals in San Juan is a celebration of classical music. It was founded in 1957 by the cellist Pablo Casals.

Three Kings Day is usually the culmination of a holiday long celebration that starts on Thanksgiving Day. I share how we celebrate it here in the United Sates here.

Architecture

El Parque de Bombas in Ponce was a fire station from 1883 until 1989. Today it is a museum dedicated to the Ponce fire department.

This picture is posted under creative common rights. For link go here.

Ponce is a town that has been nicknamed The Pearl of the South because it is know for its fine architecture.

El Viejo San Juan is known for its beautiful buildings and streets that reflect the Spanish colonial period.

This picture is posted under creative common rights. For link go here.

El Morro is a fortress built in 1539. It has six meter thick outer walls and its strategic position made it the most important Spanish fortress in the Caribbean. Circular sentry boxes, or garitas, provided shelter for guards, and have become the architectural symbol of Puerto Rico.

Las máscaras de vejigante – Vejigante masks can be made out of dried coconut shell. They sometimes have horns and are often painted black or red.

La cultura Taína – The Taíno culture was the dominant culture of Puerto Rico before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1493. Puerto Rico’s pre-Columbian heritage can be seen in Taíno art.

Children’s Book

This is a beautiful book about the most famous tree frog from Puerto Rico: En dondequiera coquies/Every where coquis by Nancy Hooper. The book is in Spanish on one side, and you turn the book, and its in English on the other side.

Another colorful children’s book about Puerto Rico is On This Beautiful Island by Edwin Fontánez. This book comes in English and Spanish.

Thank you, Frances, for this wonderful introduction to Puerto Rico! What a beautiful country, and that fire station is amazing. I’m really looking forward to reading the picture books you recommend with my kids!

Comments

Thank you for your comments on my guest post! The Coqui is originally from Puerto Rico (so I’m sure the song is from here), but did you know that Hawaii has coquies, too? But they are not as loved there as they are in Puerto Rico. LOL

Thank you Erin! There’s so much to learn about Puerto Rico, and it’s culture. Although colonized by the US, it still keeps it’s on culture intact. (Well almost, because we do celebrate a lot of the US holidays).

Lovely post Frances – I would love to visit Puerto Rico and that stunning forest! I’m also looking forward to reading these children’s books you shared and one of these days I’m going to try some of your recipes!

Thank you so much for such a comprehensive post, Frances! I find it amazing that someplace that isn’t very big geographically has had such an impact on the world culturally. Still scheming about how we can drop by for dinner sometime ;)

Wonderful post! My interested in Puerto Rico was piqued after reading a children’s book called Martina Finds a Shiny Coin by Yadhira Gonzalez-Taylor. It’s based in a tiny village called Borinquen and the vivid descriptions of the local culture make you feel like you are visiting the island. It’s a lovely story about being true to yourself. Thought I would share the recommendation for anyone interested in Puerto Rican picture books.